Colts @ Bengals
Final Score: Colts 41, Bengals 14
Writer: Geoff Ulrich @thefantasygrind (X.com)
This game was as lopsided as they came.
The Bengals started third-string QB Desmond Ridder and sat all their starters. The Colts had a similar strategy and started third-stringer Riley Leonard, who was the superior QB by far. The Bengals’ depth is a huge concern on both sides of the ball, and judging by preseason, they will be living and dying by the arm of Joe Burrow (again) all season.
Three Up
- Riley Leonard – Leonard may push the Colts to trade away Anthony Richardson sooner rather than later. He was playing against a very poor Bengals backup unit, but did what he was supposed to, which is dominate.
- DJ Giddens – May have secured the RB2 role here. He’s a better pure runner than Goodson and offers good handcuff upside.
One Down
- Jermaine Burton – There seems like little chance he plays significant snaps to start the season. Some tough luck in this game, but looking more and more like a bust.
- Desmond Ridder – He’s done.
- Adonai Mitchell – Just the fact that he was playing in this game is a bad sign. Downs, Pittman, and Pierce (the starting three WRs) all rested.
Indianapolis Colts
Quarterback
Riley Leonard: 15/20, 189 yards, TD | 1 carry, 14 yards
Leonard had a solid game. The stats make it look better than it was, most likely, but he did play well. His 14-yard scamper showed off the athleticism that may get him an NFL starting shot at some point, and his deep ball to Laquon Treadwell had lots of zip on it.
Riley Leonard's first preseason TD!
He goes 59 yards to Laquon Treadwell 🎯
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/dI4RhVt5kc
— NFL (@NFL) August 23, 2025
That said, this Bengal defense was essentially sleepwalking throughout this game, so my only advice would be “don’t get too excited”. For fantasy purposes, there is a world where Leonard’s good play hastens the departure of Anthony Richardson, and then he becomes a semi-valuable dynasty or 2-QB league commodity given the injury history of Daniel Jones (and the fact that he’s likely going to play poorly at some point this season).
Running Back
DJ Giddens: 6 carries, 22 yards
Giddens is a solid inside-the-tackles runner. He didn’t do anything great in this game, but having scouted both of the Colts’ games the last two weeks, I would say he’s the clear handcuff to Jonathan Taylor that you should be targeting. Tyer Goodson looks like he missed this game with an injury, but in any case, the Colts would likely split reps between Giddens and Goodson should Taylor go down.
My feeling is Giddens would be the one to win out on more early down work and be the more valuable commodity, while Goodson would be more involved in a passing down role. I expect the Colts may even work Giddens in this season just to ensure Taylor stays healthy. He looks like a serious NFL RB.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Laquon Treadwell: 6 targets, 6 rec, 116 yards, TD
What a throwback game. Did you know Laquon Treadwell was 30? I honestly thought it was just four years ago the Vikings were burning a first-round pick on him. How time flies.
Treadwell has always had talent and showed once again that when he’s up against third-stringers, he can still dominate. He beat coverage deep here on a big play, which is where most of the yards came from, but he also converted all six of his targets.
Unfortunately, he’s up against a serious depth chart in Indianapolis. Maybe he catches on with some other team and ends up mattering, but his road to relevancy in Indy would be a long one.
Adonai Mitchell: 1 target, 1 rec, 4 yards
Mitchell has supposedly been having a great camp, but the fact that he played here while the other top three WRs all rested isn’t a great sign for him to start the season.
He didn’t do much here or play a ton either, but his preseason was pretty quiet overall. Would likely need an injury to make an impact at this point, but the Colts may have more planned for him when the season starts.
Jelani Woods: 3 targets, 30 yards
I mentioned Woods last week, and I’ll bring him up again. He’s otherworldly from a metrics and talent perspective, which is why it’s so intriguing to see him getting used as a primary receiver in preseason. He went 3/3 on converting targets and showcased how hard he is to bring down after the catch numerous times this preseason.
He’s the type of player people would be super jazzed about if he were on the Chiefs, but since he’s attached to Daniel Jones and behind Tyler Warren at TE, his path in Indy seems slim.
Maybe he gets moved before the season starts. If for any reason he ends up somewhere else, I’d take note.
Cincinnati Bengals
Quarterback
Desmond Ridder: 8-20, 75 yards, INT | 2 car, 10 yards, TD
This pretty much sums up all you need to know about Ridder’s day.
Watching Desmond Ridder makes me so happy we have Jake Browning.
— Willie Lutz (@willie_lutz) August 23, 2025
He looked terrible for most of this game, and his day was really only saved by a short rush into the end zone. At one point, it looked like Ridder might challenge Jake Browning a bit for that backup position, but it’s pretty clear that won’t be happening anytime soon.
Even if Ridder somehow leaped up the depth chart, it would be a pretty bleak scenario if he were throwing passes to Ja’Marr Chase et al.
Running Back
There just wasn’t anything to note on the RB front for the Bengals in this game.
Their top three RBs all sat. Kendall Milton had a big TD run, but other than that, the Bengals were just going through the motions in this game. Ultimately, this is Chase Brown‘s backfield, and if he gets hurt, the Bengals would probably look elsewhere for help.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Jermaine Burton: 4 targets, 1 rec, 14 yards
A tough go for Burton in this game. He only converted on one of his four targets and got banged up on a punt return. Burton did look good on said punt return, but the fact that he was even playing in this game when the top four WRs on the Bengals all sat suggests he has a long road to go for significant snaps. He may not even be ready for Week 1 at this point.